First day of spring

A predawn Eos like any other, unlike any other. A baby boy like any other, unlike any other.

I find he has a name Aylan, he was three years old and died late on the 1st or early hours of the 2nd. His older brother Galip Kurdi also drowned along with their mother, Rehan. Their father Abdullah survived.

syrian-migrant-boy-turkey — Syrian baby boy refugee drowned on a beach I swam at forty years ago, Bodrum Turkey

The Independent has taken the decision to publish these images because, among the often glib words about the “ongoing migrant crisis”, it is all too easy to forget the reality of the desperate situation facing many refugees.

Sudarsan Pattnaik sand sculpture Puri Beach, eastern India

Syria was a beautiful country, the people generous to me. What can one do? I have given $ and signed petitions, but the problem of refugees worldwide is overwhelming.

The issue is armed conflict – raging across the globe, and all the pictures we don’t see.

Syria remains the world’s most lethal and overall “biggest” war, with an estimated 250,000 deaths in the past three years, of which fewer than half were battle-related deaths but those made up a majority of the world’s total battle deaths in 2013-14.

WARS (1000+ battle-related deaths in year):
Syria
Iraq
Afghanistan
Pakistan
Nigeria
Ukraine
South Sudan
Israel/Gaza
Somalia
Yemen

SERIOUS ARMED CONFLICTS (200-999 battle-deaths in year, 200 being my own cutoff)
India
Uganda
Libya
Sudan
Egypt

OTHER ARMED CONFLICTS (fewer than 200 battle-deaths in year)
Algeria
Azerbaijan
Colombia
D.R. Congo
Ethiopia
Lebanon
Mali
Mozambique
Burma (Myanmar)
Pakistan
Philippines
Russia
Thailand
Turkey
United States (global war on terror)